Missouri teen driving laws: permits, curfew, and passenger rules

Step One at 15: three tests before anyone signs anything

The instruction permit becomes available at 15, and the Driver Guide lists exactly two things needed to obtain it: pass the vision, road sign and written tests, and have a parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or certified trainer with a federal residential job training program accompany you to the license office to sign a permission statement. The tests come first and they happen at a Highway Patrol examination station; the signature happens afterward at a Department of Revenue license office. The Department's licensing FAQ describes exactly that order and adds that the statement the adult signs at the permit stage is a promise looking forward — that he or she will provide at least 40 hours of behind-the-wheel driver training.

The Department's licensing FAQ prices that permit at $10.00 and says it is valid for 12 months and can be renewed; the Driver Guide's Chapter 1 fee chart carries the same $10.00 and the same 0–12 month term, and adds that you may renew it as many times as needed without taking additional written tests — so a teen who is not ready at sixteen loses nothing but the fee by waiting. Confirm the amount on the Department's driver license fee page before you go; the fee table there is the version that changes first. Two smaller notes from the same page are worth carrying into the car: seat belts must be worn by the driver and all passengers, and your driver examination record alone is not legal for driving, so the permit itself has to be in the vehicle. Free "PERMIT DRIVER" window signs are available at all license offices for families who want the traffic behind them to know.

Missouri names who may supervise, and the list is shorter before 16

Under 16, the Driver Guide allows the permit holder to drive only when accompanied in the front seat by a parent, stepparent, grandparent, legal guardian, qualified driving instructor, or a person at least 25 years of age who has been licensed for a minimum of three years and has received written permission from the parent or legal guardian. At 16 or older the list collapses to one description: a person at least 21 years old with a valid driver license. The Department's GDL FAQ closes the obvious loophole in a single word — asked whether a 16-year-old on a permit may drive with a 17-year-old friend who holds an intermediate license, it answers no, and adds that if the accompanying adult driver has restrictions on his or her own license, those restrictions must be followed while supervising the teen.

Disability changes the arrangement without ending it. The Driver Guide says that if the parent, stepparent, grandparent or legal guardian is physically disabled, he or she may designate up to two persons to provide the behind-the-wheel instruction; the GDL FAQ writes the same rule for a parent, grandparent or guardian whose physical disability disqualifies them from being a qualified licensed operator. The GDL FAQ adds the conditions that come with the designation: an authorized designee must be a licensed operator for the type of motor vehicle being operated and must have attained twenty-one years of age, at least one of the designees must occupy the seat beside the applicant while giving instruction, and the names must be given to the Department of Revenue by the parent, grandparent or guardian at the time of application for the temporary instruction permit, on the Parent, Grandparent, or Guardian Request, Form 4737.

Six months means 182 days, counted from the day after

Graduating from the permit takes time on the calendar and hours in the seat. The Driver Guide requires the instruction permit to be held a minimum of six months — 182 days, beginning the day after issuance — and requires 40 hours of driving instruction with a parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or certified trainer with a federal residential job training program, of which at least ten hours must be nighttime driving. The clock does not start when the tests are passed; it starts the day after the permit is issued, so a family that lets the paperwork sit for three weeks has simply moved the intermediate license three weeks later.

Paid instruction counts. Asked whether time driven with a qualified driver training instructor counts toward the 40-hour requirement, the Department's GDL FAQ answers yes, and says the 40 hours may include any time operated with a qualified driver training instructor. It also draws the distinction between the two signatures the program collects: at the permit stage the qualified person signs stating that he or she will provide at least 40 hours of behind-the-wheel driver training, and at the intermediate stage a qualified person or grandparent signs stating that the teen has received at least 40 hours. The FAQ defines a qualified person as a parent, legal guardian or certified trainer with a federal residential job training program.

The rest of the intermediate application is a checklist. The teen must have no alcohol-related convictions in the last 12 months and no traffic convictions in the last six months. A parent, grandparent, stepparent, legal guardian, or certified trainer with a federal residential job training program must come to the license office to verify the 40 hours. The vision, road sign and written tests are repeated only if the previous results are more than one year old. And the driving test has to be passed — the Department's FAQ notes that a teen who already holds a valid instruction permit needs only to pass the driving test, with a score of 70% or better.

Step Two: a curfew, a headcount, and a farm exception

The intermediate license runs from 16 to 18 and is valid 0–2 years. Its restrictions are short enough to memorize and specific enough to argue about, so read them exactly. During the first six months the holder may not operate a motor vehicle with more than one passenger who is under the age of 19 and who is not a member of the immediate family. After the first six months the cap rises to three such passengers. And the holder may not drive alone between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. except to and from a school activity, a job, or an emergency, unless accompanied by a licensed driver 21 years of age or older.

"Immediate family" is defined in the guide rather than left to common sense, and the definition is generous: parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, stepbrothers, stepsisters, and adopted or foster children residing in the driver's household, with parent extended to a foster parent, stepparent or adoptive parent, and grandparent extended to a foster grandparent, step-grandparent or adoptive grandparent. Two further notes sit beside the restrictions. Seat belts must be worn by the driver and all passengers — and Chapter 8 sharpens that for this license specifically, saying that while Missouri law requires the operator and front seat occupants of passenger vehicles to be belted, all passengers accompanying an intermediate driver license holder must be properly restrained. Separately, the guide says the passenger restrictions may not be applicable to an intermediate license holder who is operating in agricultural work-related activities.

One timing case has its own published answer. If an intermediate license expires on a weekend or legal holiday, the Department's GDL FAQ allows the holder to continue driving for a period of five business days, specifically so the teen can legally drive to the local license office to renew. Note also that the license carries its own restriction code: "I" is the restriction the Driver Guide assigns to an intermediate license, so it will appear on the card itself.

Step Three: apply inside the 30 days before the birthday, not sooner

The full under-21 driver license opens at 18 and is valid 0–3 years. To obtain it the teen must have satisfied the intermediate requirements, hold a valid intermediate license, have no alcohol-related offenses or traffic convictions within the last 12 months, and have a driving privilege that is not suspended, revoked or denied at the time of application. The tests are light at this stage: pass the vision and road sign recognition tests, and the guide states you are not required to pass the written and driving tests if they are already completed.

The date on the application decides which license is issued. The Department's GDL FAQ allows you to apply for renewal and graduate to an under-21 full driver license within 30 days prior to, on, or any time after the 18th birthday — but apply more than 30 days before that birthday and you will be issued only an intermediate restricted driver license, restrictions and all. The same 30-day window shows up for a teen moving into Missouri: someone under 18 arriving with a full license from another state is issued an intermediate license, unless the application falls within the 30 days immediately preceding the 18th birthday, in which case a full driver license may be obtained.

A conviction inside that final year is the one thing that reliably stalls the graduation. The GDL FAQ answers the case directly: a driver under 21 holding an intermediate license with an alcohol-related offense or traffic conviction on record from within the last 12 months cannot get a full driver license until the offense or conviction date is 12 months old, or until turning 21, whichever comes first — and until then, only the intermediate license can be renewed. Note also that a driver under 21 is issued a license identifying them as a minor; at 21 they may apply and pay for another license without the minor indication, or simply wait for the under-21 card to expire.

Abuse and Lose, and the ninety days it takes

Chapter 10 gives Missouri's under-21 alcohol rules their own name. Under the Abuse and Lose Law, a driver younger than 21 may have the license taken away for 90 days for any intoxication alcohol-related traffic offense; for possessing or using alcohol or drugs while driving a vehicle; for altering, modifying or misrepresenting a driver license; or, if under 18, for possessing or using alcohol and being charged with a second offense. Note that the third of those four has nothing to do with drinking at all — a doctored license costs the same 90 days as a bottle in the car.

Minor in Possession runs on a separate track and escalates. For a driver older than 15 and under 21, a state court may suspend or revoke the license for purchasing or attempting to purchase any intoxicating liquor, for possessing any intoxicating liquor — the guide notes that consumption constitutes possession — for being visibly intoxicated as defined in Section 577.001 RSMo, or for a blood alcohol content of more than .02%. The published ladder is a 30-day suspension for a first offense, a 90-day suspension for a second, and a one-year revocation for a third. Getting the license back means paying a $45 fee and attending a Substance Awareness Traffic Offender Program or comparable program; if the privilege was revoked for one year it also means filing proof of insurance for two years, an SR-22 filing, and retaking the driver exam. One narrow relief exists: minors with a BAC of .02% or more do not have to file proof of insurance on a first offense.

Points accumulate underneath all of that, on thresholds that are published in Chapter 11. The Department sends a point accumulation advisory at a total of 4 points in 12 months. At 8 or more points in 18 months the driving privilege is suspended — 30 days for a first suspension, 60 for a second, 90 for a third or subsequent. A one-year revocation follows 12 or more points in 12 months, 18 or more in 24 months, or 24 or more in 36 months. The same chapter lists speeding at 3 points and careless and imprudent driving at 4 among its examples of state law violations, and notes that a speeding conviction may carry two or three points depending on whether the court was municipal, county or state level. Reinstatement after a non-alcohol point suspension or revocation takes proof of insurance on an SR-22 and a $20 reinstatement fee. Check both reinstatement amounts — the $45 above and this $20 — in Chapters 10 and 11 of the Driver Guide before you count on them; fees move on their own schedule.

Form 4811, four points, and the adult's own record

A parent's involvement in Missouri does not end at a signature. Chapter 1 lists a Parent or Guardian Request to Deny a Driver License, Form 4811: if the teen is under 18, a parent or guardian may ask the Director of Revenue to deny a license, and if the teen already holds one, the request cancels it. A denial is then placed on the driving record, and it expires when the teen turns 18 or when the parent or guardian asks for the driving status to be cleared. The form is available on the Department's website or at any license office.

There is a cost on the other side of the equation too. The point schedule in Chapter 11 assigns 4 points to knowingly allowing an unlicensed driver to operate a vehicle — the same value as careless and imprudent driving — which puts the adult's own record on the line if a teen drives outside what the permit or intermediate license allows. A related rule sits in Chapter 13: the guide requires proof of insurance to be kept in the vehicle, and a driver who cannot produce it when a law enforcement officer asks receives a ticket.

Two side doors are worth knowing about before a teenager asks. Work first: the Department's licensing FAQ says a 16-year-old may work as a food delivery services driver as long as the vehicle being driven has a gross vehicle weight rating of 12,000 lbs or less, and that only a Class F driver license is required in that situation. Motorcycles second: the minimum age for a motorcycle permit or a motorcycle endorsement on a current instruction permit is 15½, applicants under 16 must show proof of a completed Motorcycle Rider Training Course, graduated licensing requirements apply to motorcycle permits, and those permits are valid for six months with only one renewal allowed. The Driver Guide adds what a permit at 15½ actually allows: daylight driving only, within a 50-mile radius of home, on a motorcycle no larger than 250 cc, with no passengers, and with the written consent of a parent or legal guardian.

Missouri licensing — frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Missouri Driver Guide (Missouri Department of Revenue) — the three GDL steps, permit supervision, the 182-day hold and 40-hour requirement, intermediate curfew and passenger limits, Abuse and Lose, the point schedule, Form 4811
• Missouri DOR — Graduated Driver License Law FAQs: the 17-year-old supervisor answer, the disability designee rule and Form 4737, instructor hours toward the 40, the five-business-day expiry bridge, the 30-day window before turning 18
• Missouri DOR — general driver licensing FAQs: permit cost and 12-month validity, testing at a Highway Patrol station before applying at a license office, the 70% driving-test score, food delivery driving at 16, motorcycle permits at 15½
• Missouri State Highway Patrol — Driver Examination Division: the division that administers the written and driving examinations for instruction permits and intermediate licenses, with stations in each county

Checked against official state sources on August 20, 2026.